This invention relates generally to imaging machines, and more particularly, to an imaging machine system for mapping audible signals to corresponding imaging machine anomaly conditions. The invention further relates to a system for audibly identifying individual imaging machines and further identifying its particular anomaly condition without the need for visual examination.
Office machines that display anomaly or exception conditions, such as xe2x80x9cpaper jam,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cpaper out,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9ctoner low,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cservice machinexe2x80x9d are well known in the art. Most imaging machines, such as, printers, facsimile machines, copiers, and all in one combination machines, today have visual displays to inform the user of an anomaly or exception conditions. Some of these machines have preprogrammed non-selectable audible tones to alert a user of an anomaly or exception condition. The occurrence of some anomalies, for example xe2x80x9cpaper out,xe2x80x9d may be displayed on the user""s computer screen. Other anomalies, such as xe2x80x9ctoner lowxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaper jamxe2x80x9d may not be displayed on the user""s computer screen. Thus, the person who initiated the imaging request may or may not know of the imaging machine anomaly. The occurrence of critical anomalies, such as xe2x80x9cpaper outxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaper jamxe2x80x9d prevent the normal usage and expected workflow of the machine. Other anomalies, such as xe2x80x9ctoner lowxe2x80x9d require attention in the near future, but may not prevent the completion of the job at hand.
Many imaging machines, such as printers, are accessed through a network connection and are often located remotely from the user. In many instances, groups of imaging machines are located in one central area. The current art does not sufficiently alert the person in charge of tending to the machines that an anomaly has occurred. The attending person must continually check each machine to determine whether an anomaly has occurred. Furthermore, anomalies that occur in machines that are located in a common area, which are attended to only by persons passing by, may go unnoticed for a considerable length of time. One attempt at curing these deficiencies is to provide a simple audible tone such as a xe2x80x9cbeepxe2x80x9d when an anomaly occurs. However, in the event that more then one machine is located in a common area, a simple audible tone indicating that an anomaly has occurred does not inform the attendant of the type of anomaly, and does not identify which machine has been affected. Furthermore, the single audible tone does not inform the attending person whether the anomaly is one that requires immediate attention or one that can be addressed in the near future.
Hence, there is a need for an imaging machine system that notifies the user of anomaly conditions and does not suffer from the aforementioned deficiencies.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems and allows a user to custom map or assign audible signals to correspond to different anomaly conditions and different machines. In one embodiment, an imaging machine system having a control unit, a memory for storing audible signals, an audible signal generator for outputting the audible signal, a logic interface for assigning audible signals to the image machine anomalies is provided.
The audible signals can be, but are not limited to, tones, beeps, chimes, jingles, music, and verbal commands. The user may choose audible signals that are meaningful to him or her so that an anomaly may be recognized without approaching the machine. Critical anomalies, such as xe2x80x9cpaper outxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaper jamxe2x80x9d can easily be distinguished from non-critical anomalies, such as xe2x80x9ctoner lowxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cservice machinexe2x80x9d by mapping different audible signals to these conditions. The logic interface of the present invention also provides for the volume and frequency control of the enunciated anomaly to be set such that critical anomalies are louder and repeated more often then those of less importance. Similarly, each imaging machine may be programmed to enunciate an anomaly with an audible signal that is unique and distinguishable from the other imaging machines in the area, thus, permitting the attendant to immediately know that an anomaly condition has occurred and which machine is in need of attention.
In one preferred embodiment, the imaging machine is preprogrammed with a plurality of audible signals. In addition, the imaging machine is programmed to recognize various anomaly conditions through conventional diagnostics. These conditions may include, but are not limited to, xe2x80x9ctoner lowxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cpaper outxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cpaper jamxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9ctray openxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cnetwork disconnectedxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cservice machine.xe2x80x9d In this regard, the user can select any one of a plurality of anomaly conditions and select any one of a plurality of audible signals that enunciate the anomaly condition. The user may decide that some anomaly conditions warrant an audible signal, while others do not. For example, one of the selectable audible signals may be Beethoven""s Fifth Overture and the user may select such an audible signal to correspond to the xe2x80x9cpaper outxe2x80x9d anomaly, while two beeps may be selected to correspond to the xe2x80x9ctoner lowxe2x80x9d anomaly, and the xe2x80x9ctray openxe2x80x9d anomaly may not be assigned any audible signal. Thus, when the machine is out of paper the system will play Beethoven""s Fifth Overture. When the toner is low, the system will output two beeps, and when the paper tray is open the system will not provide any audible signal.
The volume of each anomaly condition can be individually controlled. This is particularly useful because critical anomalies should be handled promptly while non-critical anomalies may be ignored for a brief time. Thus, Beethoven""s Fifth Overture indicating the xe2x80x9cpaper outxe2x80x9d anomaly may be louder then the volume of the two beeps indicating the xe2x80x9ctoner lowxe2x80x9d anomaly. In addition, the repetition frequency for the enunciation of different machine anomalies may be controlled. Critical anomalies may be set to enunciate more frequently than non-critical anomalies. For example, Beethoven""s Fifth Overture, indicating paper out, may be played every few minutes, while the two beeps, indicating toner low may be set for every few hours.
The preferred embodiment has a system volume control to adjust the overall volume of the machine making it suitable to a variety of office environments. Machines in loud environments may be set at higher volume levels then machines in quiet environments. Machines with attendants close by may be set at lower volume levels then machines that are in a remote location. The audible signals may be mapped to the machine anomalies by a control panel located on the machine, through a network connection, or via a direct connection to a computer.
In yet another embodiment, the user can create personalized audible signals to correspond to machine anomaly conditions. The user can download sound samples from compact discs or a personal computer. The sound samples can be stored in the imaging machine system memory allowing the user to create audible signals that have special meaning. These personalized audible signals can be mapped to one or more of the printer anomalies enabling quick and easy recognition of the anomalies and their corresponding machine. These sound samples may be loaded into the memory through a network connection to the imaging machine, or loaded directly into the imaging machine through a connection port to a personal computer, a laptop computer, a hand held computer, or other medium for transmitting digital signals.
In yet another embodiment, an imaging machine is equipped with a microphone and a digital sampler. This configuration makes it possible for the user to directly input sound samples and personal messages into the imaging machine""s system memory which can then be mapped to one or more of the anomaly conditions, as stated earlier.